MMA News

bjpenndotcom - June 21, 2016

Earlier this year, after Conor McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds to claim the UFC featherweight championship, McGregor was slated to move up to lightweight to fight lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of UFC 196. Unfortunately, dos Anjos was forced out of the bout with a broken foot, and was ultimately replaced by Nate Diaz, who defeated McGregor in a welterweight matchup. With a rematch between McGregor and Diaz slated for UFC 202 on August 20th, dos Anjos spoke to MMAJunkie to give his thoughts on that bout, and campaign for a fight with McGregor:

bjpenndotcom - June 21, 2016

Last Friday in Russia, former UFC light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado put on an incredible performance against MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko. Unfortunately for Maldonado, the performance wasn’t enough to win him the fight, as he lost via majority decision. Maldonado came out of the gate strong as he had Emelianenko rocked and nearly finished for almost the entire first round. The UFC vet faded as the fight went on however, with many scoring the second and third rounds for Emelianenko. Many considered the decision a controversial one, including Maldonado’s team, who plan on appealing the loss.

bjpenndotcom - June 21, 2016

https://youtu.be/byKT5CSzdgE This past weekend in Ottawa, Canada, Valerie Letourneau and Joanne Calderwood competed in the first UFC women’s flyweight matchup in the UFC. Calderwood won the fight decisively, rocking Letourneau numerous times with shots to the face and body.

bjpenndotcom - June 21, 2016

At UFC 200 on July 9th, pound for pound kingpin Jon Jones will have the opportunity to reclaim his UFC light heavyweight championship as he fights Daniel Cormier in a title unification bout. Ahead of the fight, Jones’ manager reached out to NAC director Bob Bennett to express his concerns over veteran referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy being the referee for Jones vs. Cormier II. McCarthy, who has earned the reputation as one of the best referees in MMA, is also rather strict on allowing fighters to extend their fingers with an open hand, something Jones does frequently in order to hand fight with his opponents. Jones’ team’s concern over McCarthy being the referee likely has something to do with McCarthy’s policy on fighter’s extending fingers.

bjpenndotcom - June 21, 2016

It’s no secret that UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor likes to enjoy “the fruits” of his labor. McGregor frequently posts pictures to his social media accounts of luxury cars and designer clothes which he purchases for himself and his girlfriend. McGregor’s father, Tony McGregor, opened up in a recent interview with Independent about the presents his son purchased for the family:

bjpenndotcom - June 21, 2016

Last Friday, MMA icon Fedor Emelianenko stepped into the cage in the main event of EFN 50 in Russia to fight former UFC light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado in his second fight since returning to MMA on New Year’s Eve. The fight started off extremely bad for Emelianenko, who spent the majority of the first round rocked and attempting to survive as Maldonado landed numerous big punches. ‘The Last Emperor’ managed to win the next two rounds, and ultimately win a majority decision to extend his MMA record to 36-4.

bjpenndotcom - June 21, 2016

In the main event of UFC 199, UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold was knocked out cold by Michael Bisping, earning ‘The Count’ the middleweight championship after nearly a decade with the UFC. Following the bout, the pair were involved in two post-fight exchanges. The first took place in the Octagon, when Bisping attempted to shake Rockhold’s hand for a second time. The second came at the post-fight press conference, where Rockhold stated that he would “kill” Bisping.

Russell Ess - June 21, 2016

On Monday, FloCombat reported that Zuffa accepted a $4.2 billion bid for the purchase of the UFC. The report indicated that they confirmed through multiple sources that a $4.2 billion bid coming from a group that consisted of WME-IMG, the Dalian Wanda Group, The Kraft Group and Tencent Holdings was accepted by Zuffa. However, late Monday, UFC Vice President of public relations, athlete marketing and development, Dave Sholler, sent Yahoo Sports a statement denying the report of the UFC sale.

Russell Ess - June 21, 2016

UFC Hall of Fame legend Randy Couture spoke with ESPN1100 on Friday in Las Vegas and was asked to comment on the reported sale of the UFC. The two-weight UFC world champion opened up on what he has been hearing and his sources have told him that the deal was already finalized last week.

Russell Ess - June 20, 2016

The sale of the UFC is moving forward, according to a report from FloCombat. The report claims that they have confirmed through multiple sources that a $4.2 billion bid coming from a group that includes WME-IMG, the Dalian Wanda Group, The Kraft Group and Tencent Holdings was accepted by Zuffa. One big component to the UFC has been the President of the company, Dana White and many have been wondering if White will continue to be with the company if and when a sale takes place. FloCombat’s report indicated that their sources have told them White will still continue to be with the UFC dealing with the promotional side of the business while a new CEO will come in and develop areas of new international business.

Russell Ess - June 20, 2016

Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre made it clear on Monday’s episode of “The MMA Hour” that he is ready to get back in the Octagon. “Rush” last fought in November 2013 where he took a controversial split-decision win over Johny Hendricks.

Russell Ess - June 20, 2016

Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is set to return to the UFC Octagon once again at UFC 200 in July as he will take on the heavyweight knockout specialist Mark Hunt. Lesnar’s return was questioned by many after it became known that he was given an exemption from the UFC for the standard four months of random drug testing done by the U.S. Anti-Doping Association (USADA). Lesnar is not totally exempt from USADA’s testing, but the time frame of his testing was shortened with his individual case.

Russell Ess - June 20, 2016

Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has just announced that he is ready to return to fighting in the UFC Octagon once again. St-Pierre spoke with Ariel Helwani on Monday’s episode of “The MMA Hour” and let the world know that he just completed a successful test fight camp to ensure that he is capable of competing with the best in the world.

Russell Ess - June 20, 2016

@dillondanis warm ups! A video posted by Coach Kavanagh (@coach_kavanagh) on Jun 20, 2016 at 5:22am PDT

Russell Ess - June 20, 2016

UFC veteran Joanne Calderwood says she is “broke as hell” even after defeating Valerie Letourneau at UFC Fight Night 89. Calderwood was hoping that her third round TKO victory would give her the edge to take home a $50,000 UFC performance bonus but instead was outshined by others on the card.

Russell Ess - June 20, 2016

Rory MacDonald and Stephen Thompson put their friendship aside for five rounds in the Octagon as the two fought in the main event of UFC Fight Night 89 over the weekend. “Wonderboy” was able to pick up a unanimous decision victory over MacDonald and has likely positioned himself as the next fighter to be in line for a shot at the UFC welterweight title.

Russell Ess - June 20, 2016

https://youtu.be/ptlWxChUAL0 UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor is busy preparing for his rematch with his rival Nate Diaz.

Russell Ess - June 20, 2016

Former UFC featherweight title contender Chad Mendes was flagged recently for a “potential Anti-Doping Policy violation” by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). The UFC released a statement saying that they were notified of the potential violation by USADA after they collected an out-of-competition sample from Mendes.